It is fast growing, spawns in vast numbers, is widespread and is the mainstay of New Zealand’s deepwater fishery.

Now, in an unlikely development, skins that were previously discarded or added to lower value fishmeal or petfood,  are the basis of a revolutionary beauty product.

Anti-wrinkle facepacks made from the fish skins were launched at the China Beauty Fair in China this week and will go on sale in this country later in the year.

Fishing company Sanford combined with West Auckland-based Revolution Fibres to produce the facepacks, marketed as actiVLayr.

The product, 10 years in the making, takes the structural protein collagen from the fish skins and uses a sonic electrospinning process to make a super-thin, extremely light nano-material.

During the spinning process various bioactive products like fruit extracts and the moisturising compound hyaluronic acid are bonded to the collagen fibre.

When the nanofibre tissues are placed on wet skin they dissolve and release their nutrients.

Independent tests have shown the facepacks can reduce wrinkles by up to a third, according to Revolution Fibres chief executive Iain Hosie.

He says there is a demand for different ways to deliver drug products into the skin and actiVLayr could be an alternative for creams and injections.

It also has medical potential. Drug compounds or medicines could be added to the formula and used to treat burns or skin lesions or acne.

The nanofibers produced are minute, just 1/500th the width of a human hair.

Hoki is the perfect source because the collagen found in its skins has a relatively low melt point, meaning it can dissolve at a lower temperature, ideal for human use.

And because the nanofibre material is so fine, just 1kg of hoki skin produces 400 square metres of product.

Callaghan Innovation’s national technology manager Kirsten Edgar is enthused at the way the new product supports the New Zealand brand story.

“Tagging into a sustainable, ethically-sourced material, not using petrol-based polymers, means they are able to use a New Zealand natural products story that already exists out there,” she told BusinessDesk.

“This gives them more power overseas, particularly in China.”

Sanford chief customer officer Andre Gargiulo hopes actiVLayr gets the global attention it deserves.

“We’re delighted our sustainably caught hoki is part of this fantastic New Zealand product.

“It’s exactly what we’re all about – making the most of the precious resources from the sea.”

And the supply of hoki is unlikely to run out.

It is New Zealand’s biggest fishery by volume – the Total Allowable Commercial Catch this year is 150,000 tonnes.

Hoki was the first white fishery in the world to receive the rigorous Marine Stewardship Council sustainability certification, in 2001, and that has twice been reaffirmed.

The fisheries are widespread – along the West Coast, on the Challenger plateau to the south east of the South Island, on the Chatham Rise and in Cook Strait.

Being largely deepwater fish, the recreational and customary catch is marginal.

Revolution Fibres is promoting its breakthrough at Techweek NZ in Christchurch today.

It also manufactures nanofibers for a wide range of other uses. These include anti-dust mite pillow coverings, protective face masks, home ventilation filter pumps, and reinforcing material for carbon fibre fishing rods.